Joseph W. Mastel

It all started back on June 16, 2006 when then Spokane County Sheriff's detective Joseph Mastel exposed himself to a 23-year-old barista at an Airway Heights coffee business.The 13-year veteran was charged with indecent exposure, and six days later he was fired from the force by Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich.

In late November 2006 the case came up before an Airway Heights municipal court judge, and Mastel's sentence was deferred.Under the agreed upon terms, the charge will be dismissed in a year as long as Mastel completes mental health treatment and obeys the law during that time.

Then in December 2006 the former sheriff's detective decided to ask for his job back, claiming that he was only partially to blame for the incident.The rest of the blame was placed on the barista who, according to Mastel, "dressed provocatively and led him on."
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Instead, the commission order that Mastel be placed on unpaid leave until he's forced to retire in July of this year.
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, Was Sheriff Knezovich right to fire Mastel?, Should the Civil Service Commission be able to overturn the Sheriff's decision?, Should Mastel be eligible to collect at least a portion of his unused sick time?, Should Mastel be eligible to work in law enforcement in the future?, Is there or should there be a higher standard of behavior imposed on those who are hired for law enforcement positions?, Was the barista partially responsible for this incident or should Mastel accept full responsibility?, Would you feel more comfortable with Mastel being eligible for future law enforcement work if he had, in fact, accepted full responsibility for his actions?, Should the Civil Service Commissioners be appointed to the board or elected by the voters?, Would you like to see the Sheriff's decision to fire Mastel reinstated?, Do you think Mastel should receive retirement benefits?
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"Do you think Joseph Mastel should be allowed to pursue other employment in the law enforcement field?"
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, Was Sheriff Knezovich right to fire Mastel?Undoubtedly, YES!
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, Was the barista partially responsible for this incident or should Mastel accept full responsibility?No, the barista is not to blame.Just because a person dresses provocatively does not mean they want to have sexual advances of any kind ?flashed? at them.He taught me to take responsibility for my actions.

, Would you feel more comfortable with Mastel being eligible for future law enforcement work if he had, in fact, accepted full responsibility for his actions?No, but he should.

, Should the Civil Service Commissioners be appointed to the board or elected by the voters?They should be elected by the people if they are going to make decisions that use our tax money and affect our safety.

, Would you like to see the Sheriff?s decision to fire Mastel reinstated?Yes.

, Do you think Mastel should receive retirement benefits?No.He was not there long enough to retire.He should however be able to move the balance of his 401K or other retirement package that he earned to another job (if anyone hires him).

, Do you think Mastel?s misdemeanor was cause enough for him to be fired as a law enforcement agent?If not, what more would it take?Yes.As a public official, Mastel represented us and betrayed the trust that we placed in him by committing a crime such as this.He is a law official and should know the law and follow the law and be an example to us all.That is what he taught me? too bad he didn?t take it to heart.

The Spokane County Sheriffs detective Joseph Mastel -- who was fired in June after he exposed himself at a coffee stand in Airway Heights -- will not be allowed to work again as a detective but he will be allowed to retire.

Instead, under the panel's 14-page ruling Monday, sheriff's Detective Joseph W. Mastel, 52, will be on unpaid leave and then forced to retire in July, allowing him to be paid for as much as 1,440 hours of unused sick time and to apply for other law enforcement jobs in the state.. . .At his Civil Service Commission hearing, Mastel argued that the woman to whom he exposed himself had dressed provocatively and led him on."

"Detective Joseph Mastel's employment with the sheriff's office was terminated, effective today," Sheriff Knezovich said during a Thursday afternoon press conference.
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Detective Joe Mastel was terminated by Sheriff Knezovich Thursday after it was determined he violated criminal and civil laws and rules and regulations for the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.
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Joe was a very dilligent employee, he had great work history, he was an individual that was entrusted with writing policy and procedure for this agency."

"If you would have told me to guess a name Joe Mastel would never be the name I would have guessed," he added.

Mastel was accused of exposing himself to a barista at an Airway Heights espresso stand last Friday morning.The woman called Airway Heights Police to report the incident and as she was speaking with an officer, Mastel returned to the scene.

He accompanied the AHPD officer back to the station where, during a subsequent interview with Airway Heights Police Chief Lee Bennett they established probable cause to file a misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure against Mastel.

The sheriff said that Mastel, who was on vacation this week, returned to Spokane Thursday for a disciplinary hearing, which lasted 15 minutes.Mastel, a 12-year veteran, made no statement during the hearing.He was fired at the conclusion of the hearing.

Sheriff Knezovich said it was his decision alone to terminate Mastel's employment.

Detective Joe Mastel

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Spokane Sheriff's Detective Joseph Mastel is flanked by his family and attorney Monday, to hear the Civil Service Commission's decision on his firing.
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Instead, Detective Joseph Mastel will be on unpaid leave until he's forced to retire in July - a decision that will allow him to look for other law enforcement work in Washington.
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Knezovich said if the firing had been upheld, state law would have prevented Mastel from performing other police work.
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Mastel declined to comment after the hearing.
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Mastel appealed Knezovich's firing to the Civil Service Commission, a three-member body that has broad powers to examine and reverse disciplinary decisions in the Sheriff's Office.
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At the December hearing, Mastel argued that the woman whom he exposed himself to had dressed provocatively and led him on.

"I take responsibility.But I don't take full responsibility," Mastel told members of the commission last month.

Only panelists Shagen and Curt Berklund participated in the unpopular ruling that reversed the firing of Joseph Mastel, a detective who exposed himself at an Airway Heights coffee stand.
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The Civil Service Commission changed Mastel's firing to a yearlong unpaid suspension followed by a forced retirement and enabled Mastel to collect unused sick time.

That's the sound of Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich figuratively gunning down Joseph W. Mastel, the 52-year-old detective accused of exposing himself to a young female barista at an area espresso joint on June 16.

According to The Seattle Times, Detective Joseph Mastel said, "I don't take full responsibility" for exposing himself to a barista at a coffee stand because she was dressed provocatively and led him on ["Panel overturns firing of Spokane detective who exposed himself," local news, Jan. 9].Does that mean the only way women can be guaranteed protection from Mastel is to be mute and wear a chador?

The Civil Service Commission obviously agrees with Mastel that a justification exists for exposing oneself in public.By overturning his firing, they made him eligible to serve in law enforcement elsewhere.Let's make sure his next job isn't with the beach patrol.Of course, by Mastel's reasoning, sexual assault would be the woman's fault, not his own.

Knezovich fired 13-year veteran Detective Joseph W. Mastel in June after the 52-year-old exposed himself to a barista near Spokane.
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But earlier this month, the county's Civil Service Commission instead placed Mastel on unpaid leave and forced him to retire in July, but it allowed him to collect sick-leave pay.

At his civil-service hearing, Mastel argued that the woman had dressed provocatively and led him on.